Trader says kerbside trading fees 'ludicrous'

A Wonthaggi business owner says traders hit hard by the wind down of the desalination plant cannot afford to pay expensive kerbside trading fees.

After receiving angry feedback from traders, the Bass Coast Shire Council has decided to suspend the fees until it completes a review of their cost.

The manager of the Wonthaggi Hotel, Scott Chambers, says the council wants to charge traders $150 a square metre to use the kerb.

He says that is about three times the amount charged in South Gippsland.

"It's just ludicrous to think the council is saying that they're helping businesses or going to help build and generate income and generate employment and then to turn around [and] charge at ... [that] magnitude, it just would've been ludicrous," he said.